Channel quality indicator transmission timing with discontinuous reception

ABSTRACT

A user equipment (UE) is disclosed. The UE includes a processor configured to begin channel quality indicator (CQI) transmissions using an assigned periodic CQI reporting resource before the start of the on-duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation mode.

BACKGROUND

Easily transportable devices with wireless telecommunicationscapabilities, such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants,handheld computers, and similar devices, will be referred to herein asuser equipment (UE). The term “user equipment” may refer to a device andits associated Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that includes aSubscriber Identity Module (SIM) application, a Universal SubscriberIdentity Module (USIM) application, or a Removable User Identity Module(R-UIM) application or may refer to the device itself without such acard. A UE might communicate with a second UE, some other element in atelecommunications network, an automated computing device such as aserver computer, or some other device. A communications connectionbetween a UE and another component might promote a voice call, a filetransfer, or some other type of data exchange, any of which can bereferred to as a call or a session.

As telecommunications technology has evolved, more advanced networkaccess equipment has been introduced that can provide services that werenot possible previously. This advanced network access equipment mightinclude, for example, an enhanced node B (ENB) rather than a basestation or other systems and devices that are more highly evolved thanthe equivalent equipment in a traditional wireless telecommunicationssystem. Such advanced or next generation equipment may be referred toherein as long-term evolution (LTE) equipment.

Some UEs have the capability to communicate in a packet switched mode,wherein a data stream representing a portion of a call or session isdivided into packets that are given unique identifiers. The packetsmight then be transmitted from a source to a destination along differentpaths and might arrive at the destination at different times. Uponreaching the destination, the packets are reassembled into theiroriginal sequence based on the identifiers. Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) is a well-known system for packet switched-based voicecommunication over the Internet. The term “VoIP” will refer herein toany packet switched voice call connected via the Internet, regardless ofthe specific technology that might be used to make the call.

For a wireless VoIP call, the signal that carries data between a UE andan ENB can have a specific set of frequency, code, and time parametersand other characteristics that might be specified by the ENB. Aconnection between a UE and an ENB that has a specific set of suchcharacteristics can be referred to as a resource. An ENB typicallyestablishes a different resource for each UE with which it iscommunicating at any particular time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is nowmade to the following brief description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like referencenumerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating on-durations and off-durations for auser equipment according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 a is an illustration of a periodic CQI reporting resourcerelative to an on-duration and a retransmission window associated withthe on-duration according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 b is an illustration of a periodic channel quality indicatorreporting resource relative to an on-duration and a retransmissionwindow associated with the on-duration, depicting some channel qualityindicator transmissions turned off according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 c is an illustration of a periodic channel quality indicatorreporting resource relative to an on-duration and a retransmissionwindow associated with the on-duration, depicting some channel qualityindicator transmissions turned off according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 a is an illustration of a periodic channel quality indicatorreporting resource relative to uplink sub-frames and downlink sub-framesof an enhanced node B according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 b is an illustration of a periodic channel quality indicatorreporting resource relative to an on-duration and a retransmissionwindow associated with the on-duration, depicting some channel qualityindicator transmissions turned off according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5 a is an illustration of a method of transmitting channel qualityindicator control signals according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 b is an illustration of another method of transmitting channelquality indicator control signals according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a wireless communications system including a userequipment operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a user equipment operable for some of thevarious embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a software environment that may be implemented ona user equipment operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary general-purpose computer system suitablefor implementing the several embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although illustrativeimplementations of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure areprovided below, the disclosed systems and/or methods may be implementedusing any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence.The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrativeimplementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, includingthe exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and describedherein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claimsalong with their full scope of equivalents.

In an embodiment, a user equipment (UE) is disclosed. The UE includes aprocessor configured to begin channel quality indicator (CQI)transmissions during an assigned periodic CQI reporting resource beforethe start of the on-duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX)operation mode.

In another embodiment, a method is provided for transmitting a controlsignal from a user equipment (UE) to an enhanced node B (ENB). Themethod includes determining when an on-duration of a discontinuousreception (DRX) operation of the UE is scheduled, identifying anassigned periodic channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting resourcepreceding the scheduled start of the on-duration, and beginning aperiodic CQI control signal transmission at the time of the assignedperiodic CQI reporting resource identified.

In yet another embodiment, a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE isconfigured to transmit a channel quality indicator (CQI) control signalto an enhanced node B (ENB). The UE includes a component configured toperiodically transmit CQI control signals during a CQI reportinginterval of a retransmission window and to stop transmitting CQI controlsignals responsive to an end of the retransmission window.

In yet another embodiment, a method is provided for transmitting acontrol signal from a user equipment (UE) to an enhanced node B (ENB).The method includes identifying an assigned periodic channel qualityindicator (CQI) reporting resource, and transmitting periodic CQIcontrol signal during the retransmission window. The method includesidentifying an end of a retransmission window; and responsive to an endof the retransmission window, stopping the periodic transmission of theCQI control signal.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless telecommunications system100 that includes a UE 10 capable of communicating with an ENB 20 or asimilar component. Transmissions of various types of information cantake place between the UE 10 and the ENB 20. For example, the UE 10might send the ENB 20 various types of application layer data such asVoIP data packets and data packets containing information related to webbrowsing, emailing, and other user applications, all of which may bereferred to as user plane data. Other types of information related tothe UE's application layer will be familiar to one of skill in the art.Any signal containing such information will be referred to herein as adata signal 30. Information associated with a data signal 30 will bereferred to herein as user plane data.

The UE 10 might also send the ENB 20 various types of control signalingsuch as layer 1 scheduling requests, layer 1 control signaling (CQI,NACK/ACK, etc), layer 2 radio resource control (RRC) messages andmobility measurement messages, and other control messages, all of whichmay be referred to as control plane data. The UE 10 typically generatessuch messages as needed to initiate or maintain a call. Any such signalwill be referred to herein as a control signal 40. Informationassociated with a control signal 40 will be similarly referred to hereinas control plane data.

Channel quality indicator (CQI) signals and/or messages are includedamong these control signals. A CQI control signal may be a messagetransmitted from the UE 10 to the ENB 20 to provide an indication of thecurrent conditions of the radio channel between the UE 10 and the ENB20. In an embodiment, the ENB 20 may use the CQI control signal to adaptthe radio communications techniques employed by one or both of the ENB20 and the UE 10. For example, the ENB 20 may determine one or more of amodulation mode, a modulation constellation, a modulation bit rate, acoding rate, a redundancy version, an interleaving mode, and othercommunications parameters based at least in part on the CQI controlsignal. In an embodiment, the CQI control signal may be transmitted bythe UE 10 at a periodic scheduled time interval using an assignedperiodic CQI reporting resource. In an embodiment, the ENB 20 may updateoperational parameters, for example the modulation bit rate, withinabout two sub-frames. In another embodiment, depending on the alignmentbetween the receiving of the CQI control signal and the sub-framesequence and depending on the processing in the ENB 20 the signalpropagation delay between the UE 10 and the ENB 20, either more or lessdelay may occur between the UE 10 transmitting the CQI control signaland the ENB 20 updating or adapting the radio communication parameters.

In some cases, a dedicated channel might exist between the UE 10 and theENB 20 via which control plane data may be sent or requests to send datamay be sent. In other cases, a random access channel (RACH) may be usedfor these purposes. That is, in some cases, a request for resources tosend control plane data may be sent via a RACH, and, in other cases, thecontrol plane data itself might be sent via a RACH.

When the UE 10 sends a control signal 40 to the ENB 20, the ENB 20 mightreturn a response signal or other control signal to the UE 10. Forexample, if the UE 10 sends a mobility measurement message to the ENB20, the ENB 20 might respond by sending an acknowledgement message orsome other handover-related control message to the UE 10. Any suchresponse by the ENB 20 to a control signal 40 sent by the UE 10 will bereferred to herein as a response signal 50.

In order to save battery power, the UE 10 might periodically alternatebetween a high-power mode and a low-power mode. For example, usingtechniques known as discontinuous reception (DRX), the UE 10 mightperiodically enter short periods of relatively high power consumptionduring which data can be received. Such periods will be referred toherein as on-durations. Between the on-durations, the UE 10 might enterlonger periods in which power consumption is reduced and data is notreceived. Such periods will be referred to herein as off-durations. Abalance between power savings and performance can be achieved by makingthe off-durations as long as possible while still keeping theon-durations long enough for the UE 10 to properly receive data.

The term “DRX” is used generically to refer to discontinuous reception.To avoid confusion, the terms “on-duration” and “off-duration” may alsobe used herein to refer to a UE's capability to receive data. Besidesthe on-duration, the active time defines the time that the UE is awakewhich could be longer than the on duration due to the possibleinactivity timer running which will keep the UE awake for additionaltime. Additional information is provided in 3GPP TS 36.321, which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 2 illustrates an idealized view of on-durations and off-durationsfor the UE 10. On-durations 210 with higher power usage alternate intime with off-durations 220 with lower power usage. Traditionally, theUE 10 receives data only during the on-durations 210 and does notreceive data during the off-durations 220. As an example, it might bedetermined that an entire cycle of one on-duration 210 and oneoff-duration 220 should last 20 milliseconds. Of this cycle, it might bedetermined that an on-duration 210 of 5 milliseconds is sufficient forthe UE 10 to receive data without significant loss of information. Theoff-duration 220 would then last 15 milliseconds.

The determination of the sizes of the on-durations 210 and theoff-durations 220 might be based on the quality of service (QoS)parameters of an application. For example, a VoIP call might need ahigher level of quality (e.g., less delay) than an email transmission.When a call is being set up, the UE 10 and the ENB 20 enter a servicenegotiation stage in which a QoS is negotiated based on the maximumallowable delay, the maximum allowable packet loss, and similarconsiderations. The level of service to which the user of the UE 10subscribes might also be a factor in the QoS negotiations. When the QoSparameters for a call have been established, the ENB 20 sets theappropriate sizes for the on-durations 210 and the off-durations 220based on that QoS level.

Turning now to FIG. 3 a, CQI control signal transmissions are discussed.A plurality of assigned periodic CQI reporting intervals 250 are shownrelative to the on-duration 210 and a retransmission window 230. In somecontexts, the assigned periodic CQI reporting intervals 250 may bereferred to as assigned periodic CQI reporting resources. The CQIreporting intervals 250 depicted include a first CQI reporting interval250 a, a second CQI reporting interval 250 b, a third CQI reportinginterval 250 c, a fourth CQI reporting interval 250 d, a fifth CQIreporting interval 250 e, a sixth CQI reporting interval 250 f, aseventh CQI reporting interval 250 g, an eighth CQI reporting interval250 h, a ninth CQI reporting interval 250 i, a tenth CQI reportinginterval 250 j, an eleventh CQI reporting interval 250 k, and a twelfthCQI reporting interval 250 l. It is understood that the assignedperiodic CQI reporting intervals 250 in a network is an ongoingsequence, and that many CQI reporting intervals 250 precede the firstCQI reporting interval 250 a and many CQI reporting intervals 250 followthe twelfth CQI reporting interval 250 l. In an embodiment, the UE 10may transmit CQI control signals during each CQI reporting interval 250using the assigned CQI reporting resources. The retransmission window230 provides an opportunity for the ENB 20 to retransmit data to the UE10 that the UE 10 was unable to receive properly during the on-duration.

Turning now to FIG. 3 b, CQI control signal transmissions are discussedfurther. In an embodiment, it may be inefficient for the UE 10 totransmit CQI control signals on every CQI reporting interval 250.Specifically, during some of the CQI reporting intervals when the ENB 20is not transmitting to the UE 10, there may be no benefit associatedwith the UE 10 sending CQI control signals to the ENB 20, because theENB 20 need not adapt communication parameters for communicating withthe UE 10 at that time. As depicted in FIG. 3 b by dashed arrowed linesegments, the UE 10 may turn off or stop transmitting CQI controlsignals during the first CQI reporting interval 250 a and during theninth CQI reporting interval 250 i through the twelfth CQI reportinginterval 250 l, thereby saving the power that otherwise would have beenconsumed by transmitting the CQI control signals during the CQIreporting intervals 250 a, 250 i, 250 j, 250 k, and 250 l. The UE 10analyzes the schedule of the on-duration 210 and determines to transmiton one of the CQI reporting intervals 250 before the start of theon-duration 210. By beginning transmitting the CQI control signaltransmissions before the start of the on-duration 210, the ENB 20 may beable to receive the CQI control signal from the UE 10, to process theCQI information, and determine how to adapt communication parameters bythe start of the on-duration 210. In an embodiment, the UE 10 selectsthe CQI reporting interval 250 that immediately precedes the on-duration210 for starting CQI control signal transmissions. In some contexts thismay be referred to as resuming CQI control signal transmissions. In anembodiment, the UE 10 continues to periodically transmit the CQI controlsignals until the retransmission window 230 has ended, then the UE 10stops transmitting CQI control signals. As an example, in FIG. 3 b theUE 10 is depicted as periodically transmitting CQI control signalsduring the second CQI reporting interval 250 b through the eighth CQIreporting interval 250 h.

Turning now to FIG. 3 c, CQI control signal transmissions are discussedfurther. It may be inefficient for the UE 10 to transmit CQI controlsignals after the on-duration 210 has concluded or stopped and beforethe retransmission window 230 begins. The UE 10 analyzes the schedule ofthe on-duration 210 and may turn off or stop periodic transmissions ofthe CQI control signal after the on-duration 210 has ended or at the endof the active time. For example, as depicted in FIG. 3 c, the UE 10 mayturn on periodic transmission of CQI control signals during the secondCQI reporting interval 250 b through the fourth CQI reporting interval250 d, turn off periodic transmission of CQI control signals during thefifth CQI reporting interval 250 e and the sixth CQI reporting interval250 f, turn on or resume periodic transmission of CQI control signalsfrom the seventh CQI reporting interval 250 g through the eighth CQIreporting interval 250 h, and then turn off periodic transmission of CQIcontrol signals at the ninth CQI reporting interval 250 i.

Turning now to FIG. 4 a, the timing relationship between the CQIreporting intervals 250 and a plurality of uplink sub-frames anddownlink sub-frames of an ENB is discussed. In a practical wirelessnetwork a number of time lags are observed between the UE 10transmitting the CQI control signal and the ENB 20 adapting thecommunication parameters based on the CQI control signals. A propagationdelay is introduced by the time it takes for the radio frequency signalemitted by the UE 10 containing the CQI control signal to propagatethrough the radio channel to the ENB 20. The ENB 20 processing issegmented into uplink sub-frames 260 and downlink sub-frames 270, forexample a first uplink sub-frame 260 a, a second uplink sub-frame 260 b,a third uplink sub-frame 260 c, a first downlink sub-frame 270 a, asecond downlink sub-frame 270 b, and a third downlink sub-frame 270 c.The timing of the uplink sub-frame 260 edges and the downlink sub-frame270 edges may not align due to the propagation delay. As an example, theCQI control signal transmitted during the third CQI reporting interval250 c may be received by the ENB 20 in the first uplink sub-frame 260 a,processed by the ENB 20 to adapt communication parameters in the seconduplink sub-frame 260 b, and the newly adapted communication parametersmay be employed by the ENB 20 for communicating with the UE 10 duringthe third downlink sub-frame 270 c. In an embodiment, the best casesub-frame delay is about two sub-frames. In another embodiment, thesub-frame delay may be about three sub-frames or about four sub-frames.In other embodiment, the sub-frame delays may be greater or smaller.

Turning now to FIG. 4 b, CQI control signal transmissions are discussedfurther. In an embodiment, the UE 10 takes the time lags discussed abovewith reference to FIG. 4 a into account in determining when to beginperiodic transmission of the CQI control signal before the on-duration210 and before the retransmission window 230. As an example, as depictedin FIG. 4 b, beginning periodic transmission of the CQI control signalwith the third CQI reporting interval 250 c may not provide enough leadtime for the ENB 20 to receive, process, and adapt communicationparameters before the beginning of the on-duration 210. If the UE 10began periodic transmission of the CQI control signal with the third CQIreporting interval, the first downlink sub-frame and also possibly thesecond downlink sub-frame may not benefit from adaptation based on afresh CQI control signal and less efficient communication operationbetween the UE 10 and the ENB 20 may result. For example, anunnecessarily low modulation bit rate and/or low coding rate may beemployed, thereby decreasing the throughput of the radio channel.Alternatively, an inappropriately high modulation bit rate and/or highcoding rate may be employed, the UE 10 may not receive the data sent bythe ENB 20, and the ENB 20 may have to resend some of the data usingHARQ, again possibly decreasing the throughput of the radio channel andincreasing the UE power consumption for waking up to listen to theretransmissions.

As depicted, the UE 10 begins periodic transmission of CQI controlsignals with the second CQI reporting interval 250 b, thereby providingenough time to permit the ENB 20 to receive the CQI control signal,process the CQI control signal, and adapt communication parameters bythe start of the on-duration 210. Similarly, the UE 20 determines whento start or resume periodic transmission of the CQI control signalbefore the retransmission window 230 taking into account the time neededby the ENB 20 to receive the CQI control signal, process the CQI controlsignal, and adapt communication parameters before the start of theretransmission window 230.

Turning now to FIG. 5 a, a method 300 of the UE 10 for controlling CQIcontrol signal transmissions is discussed. At block 305, the UE 10determines when the next on-duration 210 is scheduled. At block 310, theUE 10 determines when the retransmission window 230 associated with theon-duration 210 is scheduled. In block 315, the UE 10 identifies orselects a CQI reporting interval 250 that precedes the start of theon-duration 210. In an embodiment, the UE 10 may select any CQIreporting interval 250 that precedes the start of the on-duration 210.In another embodiment, the UE 10 may select the CQI reporting interval250 that immediately precedes the start of the on-duration 210. Anotherway of describing the behavior of this embodiment is that the UE 10 mayselect the last CQI reporting interval 250 that occurs before the startof the on-duration 210. In another embodiment, the UE 10 takes intoaccount the time lags of radio frequency signal propagation andprocessing by the ENB 20 to select the CQI reporting interval 250 thatprecedes the on-duration 210. In an embodiment, the UE 10 may estimatethe time lags to consume about a time duration of two sub-frames. Inanother embodiment, the UE 10 may estimate the time lags to consumeabout a time duration of three sub-frames or four sub-frames. In somecircumstances, depending on timing alignments between the on-duration210, the UE 10 may select the last CQI reporting interval 250 thatoccurs before the start of the on-duration 210 or the UE 10 may selectthe next to the last CQI reporting interval 250 that occurs before thestart of the on-duration 210.

At block 320, the UE 10 transmits the CQI control signal on the selectedCQI reporting interval 250. In an embodiment, the processing of block320 may include a waiting process or a sleeping process wherein theprocess 300 only executes block 320 at the appropriate time, for exampleat the time of the selected CQI reporting interval 250. At block 325, ifthe retransmission window 230 associated with the on-duration 210 hasnot completed, the method 300 returns to block 320. By looping throughblocks 320 and 325, the UE 10 periodically transmits the CQI controlsignal to the ENB 20. In an embodiment, it is understood that the UE 10re-determines the CQI values and/or information for each newtransmission of the CQI control signal. It is also understood that theUE 10 transmits the CQI control signal at about the assigned time of theCQI reporting interval 250 over the assigned CQI reporting resources.

At block 325, if the retransmission window 230 associated with theon-duration 210 has completed, the processing returns to block 305. Thiscan be understood to include stopping periodic transmission of CQIcontrol signals until the method 300 returns to block 320.

Turning now to FIG. 5 b, a method 350 of the UE 10 for controlling CQIcontrol signal transmissions is discussed. At block 355, the UE 10determines when the next on-duration 210 is scheduled to begin and toend. At block 360, the UE 10 determines when the retransmission window230 associated with the next on-duration 210 is scheduled to begin andend. In block 365, the UE 10 identifies or selects the CQI reportinginterval that precedes the next scheduled on-duration 210 to startperiodic CQI control signal transmissions. As described with respect toblock 315 above, the UE 10 may select the CQI reporting intervalaccording to several different selection criteria, all of which are alsocontemplated by the method 350.

At block 370, the UE 10 transmits the CQI control signal on the selectedCQI reporting interval 250. In an embodiment, the processing of block370 may include a waiting process or a sleeping process wherein theprocess 350 only executes block 370 at the appropriate time, for exampleat the time of the selected CQI reporting interval 250. At block 375, ifthe on-duration 210 has not completed, the method 350 returns to block370. By looping through blocks 370 and 375, the UE 10 periodicallytransmits the CQI control signal to the ENB 20. In an embodiment, it isunderstood that the UE 10 re-determines the CQI values and/orinformation for each new transmission of the CQI control signal. It isalso understood that the UE 10 transmits the CQI control signal at aboutthe assigned time of the CQI reporting interval 250 over assigned CQIreporting resources.

At block 375, if the on-duration 210 has completed, the processingproceeds to block 380. At block 380, the UE 10 identifies or selects theCQI reporting interval that precedes the retransmission window 230 tostart or resume periodic CQI control signal transmissions. As describedwith respect to block 315 above, the UE 10 may select the CQI reportinginterval according to several different selection criteria, all of whichare also contemplated by method 350.

At block 385, the UE 10 transmits the CQI control signal on the selectedCQI reporting interval 250. In an embodiment, the processing of block385 may include a waiting process or a sleeping process wherein theprocess 350 only executes block 385 at the appropriate time, for exampleat the time of the selected CQI reporting interval 250. At block 390, ifthe retransmission window 230 has not completed, the method 350 returnsto block 385. By looping through blocks 385 and 390, the UE 10periodically transmits the CQI control signal to the ENB 20. In anembodiment, it is understood that the UE 10 re-determines the CQI valuesand/or information for each new transmission of the CQI control signal.It is also understood that the UE 10 transmits the CQI control signal atabout the assigned time of the CQI reporting interval 250 over assignedCQI reporting resources.

At block 390, if the retransmission window 230 has completed, theprocessing returns to block 355. This can be understood to includestopping periodic transmission of CQI control signals until the method350 returns to block 370.

FIG. 6 illustrates a wireless communications system including anembodiment of the UE 10. The UE 10 is operable for implementing aspectsof the disclosure, but the disclosure should not be limited to theseimplementations. Though illustrated as a mobile phone, the UE 10 maytake various forms including a wireless handset, a pager, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a tablet computer, or alaptop computer. Many suitable devices combine some or all of thesefunctions. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the UE 10 is not ageneral purpose computing device like a portable, laptop or tabletcomputer, but rather is a special-purpose communications device such asa mobile phone, a wireless handset, a pager, a PDA, or atelecommunications device installed in a vehicle. In another embodiment,the UE 10 may be a portable, laptop or other computing device. The UE 10may support specialized activities such as gaming, inventory control,job control, and/or task management functions, and so on.

The UE 10 includes a display 402. The UE 10 also includes atouch-sensitive surface, a keyboard or other input keys generallyreferred as 404 for input by a user. The keyboard may be a full orreduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY, andsequential types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet lettersassociated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may include atrackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigationalor functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide furtherinput function. The UE 10 may present options for the user to select,controls for the user to actuate, and/or cursors or other indicators forthe user to direct.

The UE 10 may further accept data entry from the user, including numbersto dial or various parameter values for configuring the operation of theUE 10. The UE 10 may further execute one or more software or firmwareapplications in response to user commands. These applications mayconfigure the UE 10 to perform various customized functions in responseto user interaction. Additionally, the UE 10 may be programmed and/orconfigured over-the-air, for example from a wireless base station, awireless access point, or a peer UE 10.

Among the various applications executable by the UE 10 are a webbrowser, which enables the display 402 to show a web page. The web pagemay be obtained via wireless communications with a wireless networkaccess node, a cell tower, a peer UE 10, or any other wirelesscommunication network or system 400. The network 400 is coupled to awired network 408, such as the Internet. Via the wireless link and thewired network, the UE 10 has access to information on various servers,such as a server 410. The server 410 may provide content that may beshown on the display 402. Alternately, the UE 10 may access the network400 through a peer UE 10 acting as an intermediary, in a relay type orhop type of connection.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of the UE 10. While a variety of knowncomponents of UEs 10 are depicted, in an embodiment a subset of thelisted components and/or additional components not listed may beincluded in the UE 10. The UE 10 includes a digital signal processor(DSP) 502 and a memory 504. As shown, the UE 10 may further include anantenna and front end unit 506, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 508,an analog baseband processing unit 510, a microphone 512, an earpiecespeaker 514, a headset port 516, an input/output interface 518, aremovable memory card 520, a universal serial bus (USB) port 522, ashort range wireless communication sub-system 524, an alert 526, akeypad 528, a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may include a touchsensitive surface 530, an LCD controller 532, a charge-coupled device(CCD) camera 534, a camera controller 536, and a global positioningsystem (GPS) sensor 538. In an embodiment, the UE 10 may include anotherkind of display that does not provide a touch sensitive screen. In anembodiment, the DSP 502 may communicate directly with the memory 504without passing through the input/output interface 518.

The DSP 502 or some other form of controller or central processing unitoperates to control the various components of the UE 10 in accordancewith embedded software or firmware stored in memory 504 or stored inmemory contained within the DSP 502 itself. In addition to the embeddedsoftware or firmware, the DSP 502 may execute other applications storedin the memory 504 or made available via information carrier media suchas portable data storage media like the removable memory card 520 or viawired or wireless network communications. The application software maycomprise a compiled set of machine-readable instructions that configurethe DSP 502 to provide the desired functionality, or the applicationsoftware may be high-level software instructions to be processed by aninterpreter or compiler to indirectly configure the DSP 502.

The antenna and front end unit 506 may be provided to convert betweenwireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the UE 10 to send andreceive information from a cellular network or some other availablewireless communications network or from a peer UE 10. In an embodiment,the antenna and front end unit 506 may include multiple antennas tosupport beam forming and/or multiple input multiple output (MIMO)operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, MIMO operations mayprovide spatial diversity which can be used to overcome difficultchannel conditions and/or increase channel throughput. The antenna andfront end unit 506 may include antenna tuning and/or impedance matchingcomponents, RF power amplifiers, and/or low noise amplifiers.

The RF transceiver 508 provides frequency shifting, converting receivedRF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF.In some descriptions a radio transceiver or RF transceiver may beunderstood to include other signal processing functionality such asmodulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving,spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fastFourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and othersignal processing functions. For the purposes of clarity, thedescription here separates the description of this signal processingfrom the RF and/or radio stage and conceptually allocates that signalprocessing to the analog baseband processing unit 510 and/or the DSP 502or other central processing unit. In some embodiments, the RFTransceiver 508, portions of the Antenna and Front End 506, and theanalog baseband processing unit 510 may be combined in one or moreprocessing units and/or application specific integrated circuits(ASICs).

The analog baseband processing unit 510 may provide various analogprocessing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing ofinputs from the microphone 512 and the headset 516 and outputs to theearpiece 514 and the headset 516. To that end, the analog basebandprocessing unit 510 may have ports for connecting to the built-inmicrophone 512 and the earpiece speaker 514 that enable the UE 10 to beused as a cell phone. The analog baseband processing unit 510 mayfurther include a port for connecting to a headset or other hands-freemicrophone and speaker configuration. The analog baseband processingunit 510 may provide digital-to-analog conversion in one signaldirection and analog-to-digital conversion in the opposing signaldirection. In some embodiments, at least some of the functionality ofthe analog baseband processing unit 510 may be provided by digitalprocessing components, for example by the DSP 502 or by other centralprocessing units.

The DSP 502 may perform modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding,interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fouriertransforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefixappending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated withwireless communications. In an embodiment, for example in a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for atransmitter function the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding,interleaving, and spreading, and for a receiver function the DSP 502 mayperform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inanother embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplex access (OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitterfunction the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving,inverse fast Fourier transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and fora receiver function the DSP 502 may perform cyclic prefix removal, fastFourier transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inother wireless technology applications, yet other signal processingfunctions and combinations of signal processing functions may beperformed by the DSP 502.

The DSP 502 may communicate with a wireless network via the analogbaseband processing unit 510. In some embodiments, the communication mayprovide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access to contenton the Internet and to send and receive e-mail or text messages. Theinput/output interface 518 interconnects the DSP 502 and variousmemories and interfaces. The memory 504 and the removable memory card520 may provide software and data to configure the operation of the DSP502. Among the interfaces may be the USB interface 522 and the shortrange wireless communication sub-system 524. The USB interface 522 maybe used to charge the UE 10 and may also enable the UE 10 to function asa peripheral device to exchange information with a personal computer orother computer system. The short range wireless communication sub-system524 may include an infrared port, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE 802.11compliant wireless interface, or any other short range wirelesscommunication sub-system, which may enable the UE 10 to communicatewirelessly with other nearby mobile devices and/or wireless basestations.

The input/output interface 518 may further connect the DSP 502 to thealert 526 that, when triggered, causes the UE 10 to provide a notice tothe user, for example, by ringing, playing a melody, or vibrating. Thealert 526 may serve as a mechanism for alerting the user to any ofvarious events such as an incoming call, a new text message, and anappointment reminder by silently vibrating, or by playing a specificpre-assigned melody for a particular caller.

The keypad 528 couples to the DSP 502 via the interface 518 to provideone mechanism for the user to make selections, enter information, andotherwise provide input to the UE 10. The keyboard 528 may be a full orreduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY andsequential types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet lettersassociated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may include atrackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigationalor functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide furtherinput function. Another input mechanism may be the LCD 530, which mayinclude touch screen capability and also display text and/or graphics tothe user. The LCD controller 532 couples the DSP 502 to the LCD 530.

The CCD camera 534, if equipped, enables the UE 10 to take digitalpictures. The DSP 502 communicates with the CCD camera 534 via thecamera controller 536. In another embodiment, a camera operatingaccording to a technology other than Charge Coupled Device cameras maybe employed. The GPS sensor 538 is coupled to the DSP 502 to decodeglobal positioning system signals, thereby enabling the UE 10 todetermine its position. Various other peripherals may also be includedto provide additional functions, e.g., radio and television reception.

FIG. 8 illustrates a software environment 602 that may be implemented bythe DSP 502. The DSP 502 executes operating system drivers 604 thatprovide a platform from which the rest of the software operates. Theoperating system drivers 604 provide drivers for the wireless devicehardware with standardized interfaces that are accessible to applicationsoftware. The operating system drivers 604 include applicationmanagement services (“AMS”) 606 that transfer control betweenapplications running on the UE 10. Also shown in FIG. 8 are a webbrowser application 608, a media player application 610, and Javaapplets 612. The web browser application 608 configures the UE 10 tooperate as a web browser, allowing a user to enter information intoforms and select links to retrieve and view web pages. The media playerapplication 610 configures the UE 10 to retrieve and play audio oraudiovisual media. The Java applets 612 configure the UE 10 to providegames, utilities, and other functionality. A component 604 might providefunctionality related to the control signal management.

Some aspects of the system 100 described above may be implemented on anygeneral-purpose computer with sufficient processing power, memoryresources, and network throughput capability to handle the necessaryworkload placed upon it. FIG. 9 illustrates a typical, general-purposecomputer system suitable for implementing aspects of one or moreembodiments disclosed herein. The computer system 680 includes aprocessor 682 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit orCPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondarystorage 684, read only memory (ROM) 686, random access memory (RAM) 688,input/output (I/O) devices 690, and network connectivity devices 692.The processor 682 may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

The secondary storage 684 is typically comprised of one or more diskdrives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data andas an over-flow data storage device if RAM 688 is not large enough tohold all working data. Secondary storage 684 may be used to storeprograms which are loaded into RAM 688 when such programs are selectedfor execution. The ROM 686 is used to store instructions and perhapsdata which are read during program execution. ROM 686 is a non-volatilememory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative tothe larger memory capacity of secondary storage. The RAM 688 is used tostore volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to bothROM 686 and RAM 688 is typically faster than to secondary storage 684.

I/O devices 690 may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystaldisplays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches,dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tapereaders, or other well-known input devices.

The network connectivity devices 692 may take the form of modems, modembanks, ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards,serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface(FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radiotransceiver cards such as code division multiple access (CDMA) and/orglobal system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver cards,and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity devices692 may enable the processor 682 to communicate with an Internet or oneor more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplatedthat the processor 682 might receive information from the network, ormight output information to the network in the course of performing theabove-described method steps. Such information, which is oftenrepresented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using processor682, may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, inthe form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave. Thenetwork connectivity devices 692 may also include one or moretransmitter and receivers for wirelessly or otherwise transmitting andreceiving signal as are well know to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executedusing processor 682 for example, may be received from and outputted tothe network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signalor signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signalembodied in the carrier wave generated by the network connectivitydevices 692 may propagate in or on the surface of electrical conductors,in coaxial cables, in waveguides, in optical media, for example opticalfiber, or in the air or free space. The information contained in thebaseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be orderedaccording to different sequences, as may be desirable for eitherprocessing or generating the information or transmitting or receivingthe information. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrierwave, or other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed,referred to herein as the transmission medium, may be generatedaccording to several methods well known to one skilled in the art.

The processor 682 executes instructions, codes, computer programs,scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk(these various disk based systems may all be considered secondarystorage 684), ROM 686, RAM 688, or the network connectivity devices 692.While only one processor 682 is shown, multiple processors may bepresent. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as executed by aprocessor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, orotherwise executed by one or multiple processors.

The following are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes:3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification(TS) 36.300, 3GPP TS 36.321.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component, whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a processorconfigured to begin channel quality indicator (CQI) transmissions usingan assigned periodic CQI reporting resource that immediately precedes alead time before the start of an on-duration of a discontinuousreception (DRX) operation mode, where the lead time is determined as asum of a propagation delay of sending the CQI transmission to travelfrom the UE to an enhanced node B (ENB) and a processing lag time of theENB to receive and process CQI information, and adapt communicationsparameters based on the CQI transmission.
 2. The UE of claim 1 whereinthe processor is configured to begin CQI transmissions using an assignedperiodic CQI reporting resource that immediately precedes the start ofthe on-duration of the DRX operation mode.
 3. The UE of claim 1, whereinthe processing lag time of the ENB is equal to about a time duration oftwo sub-frames.
 4. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to stop CQI transmissions at the end of the active time oron-duration.
 5. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to stop CQI transmissions after all data are receivedincluding retransmissions.
 6. The UE of claim 5, wherein the processoris further configured to stop CQI transmissions immediately after aretransmission window.
 7. The UE of claim 6, wherein the processor isfurther configured to stop CQI transmissions at the end of active timeor on-duration and to resume CQI transmissions during an assignedperiodic CQI reporting resource before the start of the retransmissionwindow.
 8. The UE of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured toresume CQI transmissions during an assigned periodic CQI reportingresource that immediately precedes a lead time before the start of theretransmission window, where the lead time is determined as the sum of apropagation delay of sending the CQI transmission to travel from the UEto an ENB and a processing lag time of the ENB to receive, process, andadapt based on the CQI transmission.
 9. The UE of claim 8, wherein theprocessing lag time of the ENB is equal to about a time duration of twosub-frames.
 10. A method for transmitting a control signal from a userequipment (UE) to an enhanced node B (ENB), comprising: determining whenan on-duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation of the US isscheduled; identifying an assigned periodic channel quality indicator(CQI) reporting resource that immediately precedes a lead time precedinga scheduled start of the on-duration, where the lead time is determinedas a sum of a propagation delay of sending the CQI transmission totravel from the UE to the ENB and a processing lag time of the ENB toreceive and process CQI information, and adapt communication parametersbased on the CQI transmission; and beginning a periodic CQI controlsignal transmission at the time of the assigned periodic CQI reportingresource identified.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying theassigned periodic CQI reporting resource preceding the start of theon-duration is further characterized as identifying the assignedperiodic CQI reporting resource that immediately precedes the start ofthe on-duration.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising stoppingperiodic CQI control signal transmission after a last assigned periodicCQI reporting resource that occurs during the on-duration.
 13. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising stopping periodic CQI controlsignal transmission after a last assigned periodic CQI reportingresource that occurs during an active time.
 14. A user equipment (UE)configured to transmit a channel quality indicator (CQI) control signalto an enhanced node B (ENB) comprising: a processor executinginstructions stored on a non-transient media, the instructions operableto: periodically transmit CQI control signals during a CQI reportinginterval of a retransmission window and to stop transmitting CQI controlsignals responsive to an end of the retransmission window; and resumeperiodically transmitting CQI control signals during an assignedperiodic CQI reporting resource that immediately precedes a lead timebefore a start of an on-duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX)operation mode, where the lead time is determined as a sum of apropagation delay of sending the CQI transmission to travel from the UEto the enhanced node B (ENB) and a processing lag time of the ENB toreceive and process CQI information, and adapt communication parametersbased on the CQI transmission.
 15. The UE of claim 14 wherein theprocessor executes instructions to begin periodically transmitting CQIcontrol signals during the assigned periodic CQI reporting resource thatimmediately precedes the start of the on-duration.
 16. The UE of claim14, wherein the processor executes instructions to stop transmitting theCQI control signal after an active time or on-duration and resumesperiodically transmitting the CQI control signal during the assignedperiodic CQI reporting resource before the start of the retransmissionwindow.
 17. A method for transmitting a control signal from a userequipment (UE) to an enhanced node B (ENB), comprising identifying anassigned periodic channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting resource;transmitting a periodic CQI control signal during a retransmissionwindow; identifying the end of the retransmission window; and responsiveto the end of the retransmission window, stopping the periodictransmission of the CQI control signal; and resuming periodicallytransmitting the periodic CQI control signal during an assigned periodicCQI reporting resource that immediately precedes a lead time before astart of an on-duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX) operationmode, where the lead time is determined as a sum of a propagation delayof sending the CQI transmission to travel from the UE to an enhancednode B (ENB) and a processing lag time of the ENB to receive and processCQI information, and adapt communications parameters based on the CQItransmission.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising providingperiodic CQI control signal transmissions immediately before the startof the retransmission window.
 19. A user equipment (UE), comprising: aprocessor configured to: begin channel quality indicator (CQI)transmissions using an assigned periodic CQI reporting resource before astart of an on-duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX) operationmode; stop CQI transmissions at an end of an active time or anon-duration and to resume CQI transmissions during the assigned periodicCQI reporting resource that immediately precedes a lead time before thestart of a retransmission window, where the lead time is determined asthe sum of a propagation delay of sending the CQI transmission to travelfrom the UE to an enhanced node B (ENB) and a processing lag time of theENB to receive and process CQI information, and adapt communicationsparameters based on the CQI transmission; and stop CQI transmissionsafter all data are received including retransmissions.